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The question

Is the husband obligated to divorce his wife who does not obey him, does not pray, and refuses to move out of the family home?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

A wife must obey her husband in what is right and reside with him wherever he wishes, provided he furnishes her with an independent dwelling. If she fails to do so, she is disobedient (nashiz), and she is to be treated first with admonition, then by abandonment in bed, and then by a non-violent beating. Divorce is the last resort. The husband must also command his wife to pray and explain to her its importance and the danger of abandoning it. Abandoning prayer out of denial expels one from the faith, and abandoning it out of laziness may be considered by some scholars as an act of disbelief that expels one from the faith. If she repents and maintains her prayers, she will become upright. But if she remains a non-observant of prayer, it is better to separate from her, and divorce may be obligatory in this case. It is not permissible for a man to reside with a woman who does not pray.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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